Posts Tagged ‘World Cup betting’
World Cup: Cahill Praises New Generation
March 13th, 2014 by G WaldorfIt looks like it’s shaping up to be an exciting World Cup for Australia. Sure, Group B doesn’t look like it was the best place for the Socceroos to be drawn, and sure, the odds are pretty long for Australia to scrap their way out of the group, but we have to say we’re liking the way Ange Postecoglu has been going about preparing the side for the tournament, and we’re not the only ones: Socceroos veteran Tim Cahill has been in the press this week praising the new crop of players pulling on the gold jersey…
Cahill became Australia’s leading goal scorer on Thursday when Read the rest of this entry »
Read more »World Cup: All The Socceroos Odds
March 12th, 2014 by G WaldorfWe’re inside 100 days – the Socceroos will already be in Brazil for the World Cup by the time those 100 days are up, and they will already have played that vital first game against Chile. We know a few things for sure, looking forwards: Australia are Read the rest of this entry »
Read more »World Cup: Fewer Than 100 Days To Go, Socceroos Odds At $501.00
March 11th, 2014 by G WaldorfWe’re into the final hundred days before the World Cup in Brazil kicks off and all the TV cameras on the planet are pointed in that direction (that’s how it feels, anyway, with these tournaments) – there are 95 days, in fact, between now and Australia’s first game, against Chile at Cuiaba. The stadium might Read the rest of this entry »
Read more »World Cup 2014: A Look At The Early Favourites
January 17th, 2014 by G WaldorfIt might still be a few months until the first kick-off of the World Cup in Brazil, but already there’s some excitement building. We’ve had a chance to see how the groups will look, and we’re enjoying the chance to speculate about how they might pan out – and especially how Australia can hope to Read the rest of this entry »
Read more »World Cup 2014: Theo Walcott Out With Injury
January 10th, 2014 by G WaldorfYou’ve got to feel for Theo Walcott. He could well be starting to think – and he’s going to have plenty of time to dwell on it over the coming months – that the World Cup dream just isn’t Read the rest of this entry »
Read more »World Cup 2014: Australia’s Group
January 9th, 2014 by G WaldorfSo we’ve had a little while to absorb the draw for the World Cup, and in particular to size up Group B, in which the Socceroos find themselves, along with The Netherlands, Chile and Spain…
There will be Read the rest of this entry »
Read more »World Cup play-off betting and Railway Stakes update
November 18th, 2009 by adminA good overview of how you might play the World cup play-off betting tonight before I do a little update on the Railway Stakes, the main racing event for Saturday at Ascot.
By 11am AEDT we will know for sure which teams will be joining the likes of Australia and New Zealand in South Africa next year and which sides face another four-year wait before they have the chance to perform on soccer’s biggest stage.
Today’s World Cup play-off second legs will define the careers of some players – Portugal have been to the World Cup on numerous occasions, but have never won it. Go out against Bosnia tonight and playmaker Deco, at 32 years of age, can probably kiss goodbye any chance of winning the most famous prize in sport.
Elvir Rahimic, the Bosnian midfielder, is 33 and his team have never made the World Cup before – if his side fail to get the required result he too faces the prospect of never playing in a World Cup.
As such the pattern of these second legs can be hard to predict because so much is at stake. Bosnia will be desperate not to concede a potentially decisive away goal, but on the other hand, have to score at some point.
In Paris, where France, leading 1-0 from the first leg, take on Ireland, the situation is a little clearer. They don’t have to score, Ireland do, and are likely to build the game from the back.
Neither team is in the finest attacking form and as such a bet on a scoreline involving less than 1.5 goals looks not too bad with Betfair’s World Cup betting market, at 3.15. Value for wins for the likes of France is likely to be poor, so, as with the first legs, scorelines and over/under goal totals could be the way to go.
Over to the Railway Stakes now, where a pot of $1 million is up for grabs at Ascot on Saturday. First of all, Kasabian, a local chance, is out of the race having developed swelling in a foreleg. Gold Salute is still on top in the betting with All American not a million miles away.
I’m afraid outside the top two or three we are seeing a complicated market at the moment, with some runners spread at around 8.00 to 10.00 and a heap on around 16.00. This could make a placings shout very tricky. More on this on Friday. In the meantime, marvel at the sound of millions of hearts breaking as the World Cup qualification process finally comes to an end.
Read more »Kidnapped nabs me a weekend sweetener
November 16th, 2009 by adminA dodgy deflection denied me a 0-0 scoreline and a correct prediction for the Ireland – France World Cup play-off on Saturday, and as such I feel as green at the gills as the Irish squad, who played well throughout and even fashioned the better chances.
Over in Russia a surprise Slovenia goal edged out my shout for a 2-0 home win, which confounded my disappointment from the Sandown Classic, which was won by Zipping for the third time in a row – quite an achievement and I won’t begrudge him that one. For the record, my shout Master O’Reilly was third behind Purple.
Thankfully my poor luck ended with a win for Kidnapped in the Sandown Guineas. Peter Snowden’s promising youngster pulled off a classy performance and made the bookies weep – you could get 2.50 when I tipped him and he shrunk to around 2.10 before the race.
Now for some more news on the Railway Stakes – Saturday’s $1 million highlight and quite simply the biggest race in Australia since the Melbourne action.
At this stage we’re still not sure whether Ortensia, likely to be a serious contender, is even going to appear. We should find out tomorrow when jockey Craig Williams takes her for a run round Ascot in the morning – the result of this will decide whether or not she turns up in the Railway or is held for the group 2 Winterbottom Stakes the week after.
Elsewhere, the profile of the race is to be boosted by the presence of three high-profile jockeys who will be taking mounts in the run – Damien Oliver, Nash Rawiller and William Pike.
Pike is a local Perth favourite, while Oliver hails from the area but plies his usual trade in Melbourne. Rawiller is being released by the Gai Waterhouse stable and will be on Sniper’s Bullet on Saturday.
Most betting markets are yet to open for the Railway, but midweek will be spiced up by the presence of the second leg of the World Cup play-offs. Can Ireland pinch a win in Paris? Sacre bleu.
Read more »World cup odds favour correct score bets
November 14th, 2009 by adminAlthough nothing can be decided for certain today, the teams involved in the first legs of the World Cup qualification play-offs can virtually seal their seats to South Africa.
Here’s the deal – the teams playing today all came second in their qualifying groups and so missed out on an automatic pass to the biggest show on earth – instead they have been drawn against each other to play two legs home and away, with the winners of each tie going through and the losers staying at home next summer.
Today the first legs will be played, before the second legs come around on Wednesday, with away goals counting double.
For example, today Ukraine host Greece, and should the away side pull off a 2-2 draw, then draw 1-1 with Ukraine on their home turf next Wednesday, they are through by virtue of the extra away goal in the first leg. Got it? Good. Therefore whoever can pull of a handsome win today is in a mighty fine spot.
Let’s firstly turn to Russia against Slovenia in Moscow, with the home side unlucky to have to go through a play-off at all after narrowly finishing second to Germany in their group. Guus Hiddink’s side can call on the creativity and goal power of midfielder Andrey Arshavin, and have pedigree given their strong performance at Euro 2008. As such they look good for a 2-0 win at 6.80 with Betfair.
Also on Saturday we have Ireland hosting two-times champions France. Although France are the favourites to go through over all, Ireland pulled off two impressive draws against current world champions Italy in their group. In fact Ireland were beating Italy 1-0 until a last-minute Italian equaliser in their final group match, so should not be underestimated.
This is over two legs though and I feel France can mount a decent enough defence, however, in general they have not played well throughout qualification and haven’t exactly been free-scoring. A 0-0 at 8.00 with Betfair therefore looks good for this one. More next week when the deciding legs come around.
Read more »A group 1 drought – but plenty of betting distractions
November 8th, 2009 by adminA glimpse over my Aussie listed racing calendar makes for rather stark reading on this lazy Sunday – group 1 silks will not be fluttering in the wind again until January.
According to my list, the next group 1 run is the Lightning Stakes over 1000m at Flemington on January 30. After the feast, so must come the famine – and by god we have eaten well over the last few weeks.
There are plenty of other summer tasters to whet the appetite – next Saturday there’s a meeting at Sandown with a pair of group 2 races – the Sandown Classic and the Sandown Guineas.
To distract us we also have the Melbourne Cup. No, not last Tuesday, but Melbourne Cup 2010 – the build-up to which has already begun. No, seriously, it has – officially, with Victoria Racing Club pretty much releasing a statement to this effect and promising an extra $500,000 in prize money for next year’s event. The Queen may even make an appearance in 2010 as it’ll be the 150th anniversary of the race that stops a nation. Maybe she can hitch a lift on the Quantas with me.
Aside from the turf of the track I’m also quite partial to the turf of a football pitch – that’s proper football or ‘soccer’ to you.
Australia are already through to next year’s World Cup, although plenty more have not been so lucky. A number of high-profile teams are facing the relative humiliation of a two-legged play-off after a stuttering qualification campaign, and France are one of them.
The 1998 winners have to play Ireland over two ties, with away goals counting double and the first match in Dublin next Saturday. On paper it looks like a no-brainer – France have also won two European Championships and two Confederations Cups, whereas Ireland have won precisely nothing and weren’t even in the last World Cup in 2006.
However, Ireland were immensely unlucky not to qualify direct – they were unbeaten in their group but ended up second to Italy, who are the defending champions. En route to their second place Ireland got a 2-2 draw in Italy and were winning in their home fixture 1-0 against the likes of Buffon and Pirlo before a last-minute equaliser robbed them of a famous win.
France, on the other hand, stuttered during qualification and are arguably lucky to even be in the play-offs. A bet on a draw in Dublin next Saturday looks good at 3.15 with Betfair.
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